


What we carry

by Golden_youth



Category: Theoutsiders - Fandom
Genre: thewar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2020-09-25 19:30:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20376916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Golden_youth/pseuds/Golden_youth
Summary: Lifes always moving on , but can pony move on with it





	1. The letter

It was a cold night out on the lot. Me and johnny had decited to stop here after school instead of heading home first and ended up being out till 11. I Remember thinking how Rare it was to get out here when it wasnt 100° or below frezzeing , our luck just seemed to be Non existent.

Johnny was laughing at some joke he was retelling and i felt a pain in my chest ,i hadnt heard his laugh in what felt like a century. his face was scare free and there wasnt a single burn mark on his body. I was just about ready to ask him if he wanted to Bogey out when i felt someone hit my shoulder. 

" hello earth to curtius , you with me spaceboy?" Johnny said , wait no not johnny 

I looked up from my book to see curly Shepherd looking at me sideways with one eyebrow perked up. Curly wasnt his birth name but nodody around here Remembers what it really is anymore exepct tim. So it wasnt johnny , i had zoned out again , something years of being around each other had taught curly about 

" ya sadly , but dont worry my spaceships comin in any secound to save me from ya" he Scoffed at that, i had always talked alittle more hood around him , he was from a real tuff part of town and it just felt natural with him.

He took the book from my lap and closed it as he tossed it to the side. I went to grab it when he pulled it back again this time raising it in the air , a pointless attempt Considering I'm taller than him.

" now just wait a secound there spaceboy , you aint gonna waste no more of my time with this book , we're breaking outta here and i dont want you bumpin into walls on the way out" he spoke with an accent ive only ever heard tim use , like two peas in a pot , though sometimes i think he does it without thinkin. 

" come off it curly, youve already made me lose me place " he rolled his eye at me for the 5th time today 

" dont know if ya noticed but youve been on the same page for five minutes , you outta have it Memorized by now" i wasnt suprised it happened more than i like to admit , but i sure as hell didnt remeber where i stopped, damn him. He threw the book at my pile of stuff . while looking over his shoulder he put his cancer sticks in his pocket . " there see i put it back , now lets go" 

It was my turn to raise my eyebrow , a little more gracefully thanks to two-bit " go where smartass we've two more classes left" the look on his face told me he had no intetion of stay for them before he could even open his mouth. " oh no no, forget it i aint goin nowhere " 

Curly Smirked " sure ya are , you cant just let your best bud walk home all by his lomesome" he knew damn well nobody was stupid enough to lay a hand on him , he was to Unpredictable and fighting seemed to be a dream come true to him not to mention i once saw him take three guys at once and only get hit once , besides even if someone (someones if i was being honest) had ever gotten the jump on him tim would be on them so fast theyd think they died and went to hell. He always liked to ignore that fact though , thats one thing ive always like about him he could start shit with just about anyone he wants and when it came down to it could have it handeled by his brother , but he always did it himself. 

" well if your really shakin in your boots you can wait till schools out and i can walk your Scaredy ass home" he looked down at me with a fake shocked expresion on his face and placed a hand on his heart 

" why ponyboy i never " i laughed while pulling at his shirt 

"Come on now Seriously it's the last day of school there no need to play hookie" his eyes sparked with a sense of Chaos that told me i shouldnt even try .i was, like always ,going to be roped into his master plan of the day. I sighed putting my stuff together but still not giving in " would we actually be going to your house or am i gonna end up being draged all over town" 

Curly smiled knowing me well enough to know i might as well have just said okay " of course i would never lie to ya" " well not today ive a party to set up for" he added after seeing the Skepticalness on my face 

"What kind of party are you talking about " i Remember vividly his 18 year old birthday party with to much Liquor and not enough personal space. 

" the wild kind , anything else would be a waste of time " he spoke Confidently in his own skills , though he was better at getting people drunk than Entertaining them himself, i had a bad feeling i was on the party list. 

A breeze hit me as i suddely realized we were outside , i guess i couldnt be mad if it was already done but i wondered in the back of my mind how he could always Distract me like that , he always manged to get me in the wildest Situations and i wouldnt notice till it was to late , he was alot like dally like that. Dally would have been the only one in the group to support our friendship if he was still here, althought i know two-bit really dont mind it , he just doesnt want to start anything with darry.

" that sounds like a heap of trouble there , shame but i think ill pass " 

" come on pony we're Graduating dont ya want one more crazy night before you go to some fancy soc college and leave all us greaser behind" that last part stung about as much as curly wanted it to , he was never one to get upset or pissy over anything but the closer college was getting the more curly seemed to be pushing it , we had gotten pretty closer over the years , after johnny had died i a was a wreck and in his own way curly had picked me up from the bottom, now he saw it as me just leaving him to finde for himself.

" honest i would but i promised soda i would help him with work in the moring and i shouldnt be out late " i lied , i felt kinda bad but i just really wasnt in the mood for a night of drinking and most likely fighting , and if i told him the truth im sure i would somehow be pulled into it anyways. He rolled his eye but let it go , patting me on the back before heading towards his part of town.

Curly was a good kid , and hes always had my back , he was diffrent than the gang thought diffrent from jhonny and maybe why thats why i like him so much , after he died i felt broken , i couldnt keep dally together like i know jhonny wanted me to , i didnt get the chance to tell him to slow down and watch a sunset , that night we were in the hospital i didnt think to stop dally from walking out of the room like i should have , it would have been hard but i know i could have calmed him down enough to get him to the gang. But i Froze. 

It had been awhile sense i thought about them for this long. Its been three years and i still missed them but it had somehow gotten easier , like with mom and dad. Im 18 now and as of today out of hightschool. Soad said he was staying till i moved out , i knew hes just scared of leaving me and darry on our own , not to mention the fact he was still working at the dx with steve. 

I Debated not going straight home I was technically skipping still but I knew that darry had to work late tonight and soda didn't get off for another few hours and I was pretty tired so it wasnt going to hurt if i went on home. 

Walking up to the steps i noticed that we had gotten out mail in , it must have came late for soad not to get it before heading out the door. I picked it up on my way inside and started lazily shifting through them as i took a seat on the couch. Junk mail , junk mail , a dirty magazine that had two-bits name on it. Man if darry found that first two-bit woulda been skined alive. Hes awful lucky nobody else touched the mail , or maybe just reckless , though im sure he knew if me or soadpop found it first we'd put it to the side for him , if it was steve he'd probaly but it on darrys bed and just watch it unfold. My thoghts haulted as i laied eyes on a letter from the goverment . It could be a check , darry does get money each month from the state to help out with taking care of us or it could be social services , my mind was going wild with Possibilities. I took a deep breath as i opened it not even bothering to check the name on it. My heart sank as i realised what it was , the rest of the mail fell out of my shaking hands as i sunk to the floor with it. 

One of us was getting drafted. I couldnt breath suddenly and it felt like the walls were caving in on me ,on us. Finally things were going okay , we were just starting to get our lives back together and now the universe was once again throwing the crutis brothers lifes out the window. It was stupid , so stupid to think we wouldnt be affected by the war , and it had always been a fear in the back of out minds but as the months moved on with no intefernce we naively started to feel safe from the horrors across the world. Theres no way out of this one i was going to lose another person i held dear an-

My name poped out like blood on a white carpet suddenly and it hit me. I was getting drafted. Suddenly the weight in my chest got lighter and i could breath in again at the realization that both my brothers were safe. I wouldnt have to lose anyone else , expect maybe myself. It felt like the calm before the storm , as i stood up with woddlely legs i put all but the draft letter on the kitchen tabble , i put the letter in the inside pocket of my jacket and leaned against the wall running a hand through my hair. Whats next? I have to go theres no way out of this even if i tried. I wonder how long i can go without telling anyone, i dont feel up tp telling anyone. As my hands shook i knew i wasnt stable enough to be around mg brothers right now without giving it away, i had to get away for at least a few hours. Suddenly curly poped up in my head. He wont push me to much , and a drink or two was starting to sound like a safehaven. I sent a quick text to soad telling him id be out with curly before heading out the door.  
It was going to be long night


	2. On the road

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so i have been sooooo behind forgive me but im already working on chapter 3 so fingers cross i get it out sooner

After a few hours of walking around i figured it was time to head over , Even from down the street I could hear the music coming out of the shepperard household, my head slightly bobbed to the beat of build me up buttercup before i wondered what kind of music they listened to in nam, i doubt any of our stations carried over there had not been any reason to before and in the midst of a war you ain't got time to worry about all that i suppose. And I sure as hell didn't know any forgien language , three years of french and all I've gained is the vernacular of a french preschooler. I'll never know how I managed to pass that class as well as I did. 

Passing Classes , yet another thing that wasn't going to matter anymore, the only assignments out there would be dodging bullets, guess it's more like a fitness class than anything else , just with a really fucked up game of dodgeball , you now regret complaining about the deflated balls coach used.

An image of Johnny getting hit in the face with if I had to guess a 100 year old ball crossed my mind , he didn't make a peep when the ball made contact , just covered his eye and went to sit out. 

" hey! Headshots don't count" a booming voice echoed and me and Johnny both turned to the side to see two-bit , three balls in hand , throwing and dodging as he seemed to glide to us. He kicked a stray ball in my hands just in time for me to block the one coming towards my chest. I smiled and glanced over at Johnny who was clearly apprehensive about staying in the game , even with two-bit his backbone against the socs had been pretty lacking. I didn't blame him , but with two-bits cocky manner I always found it easier to fight back. 

Once he reached us he put a hand on johnny's head momentary ruffling his hair before slightly tilting johnny's head to examine his eye 

" you'll be fine kid " he took the ball from my hand and moved it towards johnny " wanna take a shot back? I know which one it was" his smile was wicked though it was all wishful thinking, he should have known better than to think he'd take the shot 

" nah it's okay , just a game anyways " his whole body screamed that he was uncomfortable , two-bit just laughed 

"All games have a winner " just as he closed his mouth he got hit square in the face , for a split second I was going to ask if he was okay but the look on his face told me this is exactly what he wanted 

" so we're making unfair shots now" he shot a look at the coach who was still in his office ,attempting to avoid all conflict that sparks up when we play games with two sides , they always ended up the same. 

" sorry grease didn't see you there" a tall blonde said ,smirk on his face, that pretty much did it 

" Oh, of course , why didn't I think of that" with that the socs looked over , slightly raised brows at two-bits new antics , in the safety of the school gym he caused a lot of trouble , and they were preparing to take whatever he had planned 

" pony those small heads they got make them awfully hard to see dontcha think?"

" ya i think your right " without another word balls were flying left and right in such violent manners you couldn't tell the balls were deflated when they hit you anymore. I smiled as we scatter like mice around the gym floor

I don't know if it was because we were winning or because two-bit was Practically flying to avoid getting hit but i heard johnny laugh to the side of me, i remember in the moment it made my face glow up and i probably turned to watch the way his shoulders would always pull up with each cuckle , but now it made my heart ache to think of and I was suddenly aware that i wasn't in gym class , I was alone on the side of some road on the way to a party all by myself, because my best Friend Had died two years ago and left me alone. A party I wasn't even interested in , and if he were here, I wouldn't have even Considered it. 

Signing I pushed my hair back ignoring the grease and tried to focus back on the house in front of me. Any Sensible person would be worried about the cops being called but lucky for curly i'm almost certain every house on the block was Empty, all the residents were scattered throughout the busy house , some even on the lawn poking at a fake deer in the front yard. I walk up and give them a nod immediately blending in, Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Inside the house I looked around for curly , this is a scene that soda pop would love, which tells me im in way out of my element. The smell of weed and cigs rush my senses and I got lost in a sea of people, before I could reach the top of the stairs a girl practically came tumbling towards me, I caught her hand and pulled her to my chest to stop her from falling all the way down the stairs. Face to face I could smell the alcohol off her as she struggled to get her footing back , I'm starting to wonder if I should have showed up before everyone started drinking. 

"H-heyy , your one of the curtis boys arentcha" I nodded at the girls hiccup as I moved her down the stairs no longer trusting her to make it on her own. 

"Mm i could tell, yall have the same look to ya" i smiled but remained silent. over the years, I didn't mind it so much when people compared us. I had grown about three inches and the older I got the more I could see it , my hair color had turned dirty blonde like darrys but the rest of me looked like soad despite the inch I have on him now. Lost in thought I didn't notice the girl had wrapped around me until I tried to walk back up the stairs , I shot her a questioning look.

"Stay with meee" I rolled my eyes attempting to pull her off twisting to avoid getting more entangled with her , i was almost free when someone's arms wrapped around the girls shoulders and pulled her in 

" you hittin on my women pony " Tims smile was crooked and the way the girls face turned red told me this was the first time him and his " women" had seen each other , but that aint none of my Business

" actually just dropping her off" i said leaning against the stair rail,being nonchalant was tiring when all I wanted to do was crash.he looked me over before changing is gaze to the female who now was practically in his lap , don't get much easier than that two-bit would say , she smiled up at him and whispered something in his ear , that seemed to be my que to leave ,but as I headed up the stairs he called out to me "curlys in the basement" I mumbled a thank you before heading towards the basement thankful i didn't have to risk bumping into anyone else but even more so that I didn't have to stay and witness whatever they were about to do.

I spotted him immediately halfway done with a bottle of god only knows what. smiling i walked up behind him " you call that chugging?" His lips curved up causing more liquid to come out ,despite the challenge he put the bottle down, seemingly so that he wasn't a total waste to Entertain me , knowing I would bonce if I grew bored , however I would rather be here than at home distracted by my own thoughts of pending dome, not that he knew that. I’ll keep that part to myself for now, I wouldn't want to be the killer of yet another party,no matter how small it was starting to look.

" thought you'd be too busy to hang curtis" his words were not slured yet but his stance was wobbly .normally I would let him Stumble around trying to find his footing but my head hurt and things were suddenly becoming too overwhelming again So getting ahold on his wrist I slightly nudged him to the couch but the way he fell you would think I used all my strength. maybe he was more wasted than I thought ,good. I don't feel like trying to keep things from a sober curly.

"Shut your trap , you wanted me here" he laughed and I ignore his Whines as I lay down on the couch beside him head resting in his lap without thinking ,it had all just become so natural but for some reason I felt out of place now ,Like I should already be off somewhere ,like I won't come back. My breath hitched and I cursed silently at myself turning my head to the door but keeping it placed in his lap like a Safe haven. I felt Him hesitate And all the hopes that he was too drunk to realize my state went out the window. I was spiraling and I had somehow put myself right in the lap of the one person who could read me Aside from soda of course, Wasn't that the whole reason I came here? to avoid Confronting it.What the hell am I doing. I have half a mind to go back home, or to the lot , not that I was ever able to calm down when I was there, but that is not a door I need to open. Not when there are so many other problems I'm facing.

His hand landed in my hair , running all the way through it and suddenly my racing thoughts slowed down " you aint gotta talk about it pon" despite myself my body started to shake and I sat up shaking my head , two tears fell down my check before I had even noticed my eyes water. I quickly wiped them away but knew he had already seen them. His eyes sparked with anger though the rest of his body was still calm and welcoming , he had assumed someone was to blame.i wish it was that easy. I just shook my head and layed it back on my hands. 

He waited for me to even out my breathing,showing much more patience than he normally has. After a minute I pulled myself together enough to stand up , I didn't bother to smile but I tried my best not to look so ominous. I reached my hand out to him which he took without question. He got off the couch with skills that told me his buzz was gone , Steve had always called me a buzz kill , wouldn't he just get a kick outta this. 

I lightly shoved him towards the door. He paused for a moment and for a second looked like he was going to say something but stopped himself 

"you comin?" He finally asked. It seemed like a better idea than being alone at a party , though I made a mental note not to drink , I still had to go home and i didnt want to get lost , or worse get home and have to deal with my brothers. 

I stayed behind him but we never got more than a couple feet away from each other , curly had always been more of a social butterfly than I was , his laugh could travel across a room and he was always bouncing off the walls, always expecting everyone's attention and that's exactly what he got ,rightfully so. I, on the other hand, have always been reserved , I blended in like a piece of camouflage around most people but it seemed to work in my favor. I never understood parties , there was never enough space to walk so you endlessly bump into people going from one drink to another. Maybe that has always been my missing piece , I never drank at places like this even when it became apparent that was the only thing that would make it fun.

As we were socializing ,and by we I mean I stood at the side and nodded at what people were saying periodically ,someone had bumped into the person in front of us and suddenly I was drenched in beer , my shirt immentaly started soaking it up. I mumbled a few cuss words under my breath, I would have gotten more wound up but the idiot who did it was already long gone. Trying to stop more of it from touching me i took my shirt off and used the dry parts to dry off my now exposed stomach, within seconds I had decided I would go home without a shirt then come home in one that reeked of beer , deciding that I threw my shirt over the couch so I knew where it would be later, I tried to think of how to get the smell of it off the rest of me, damn this sucked. Darty was gonna ring me out to dry for this.

"Woah there curtis put the guns away " curlys voice came from the side of me his hands were up and his smile was wicked , I had walked to the couch and didn't announce what i was doing before stripping my shirt , ya i can see a problem. It just hit me that I was shirtless , I was so focused on what I needed to do for home I totally forgot I was in a house jam packed with people. 

"I wish I had something on me to actually shoot cha,- " he laughed putting his arms down and sliding them into his pockets " I don't know what you're laughing at this ain't funny. What am I supposed to do without a shirt huh? In this hole i'd be lucky if i just got pneumonia" he rolled his eyes and grabbed my wrist pulling me to follow him without a second thought, we had been talking to people for hours and the houses hallways were starting to clear out a bit.

Once in his room he motioned towards his drawers. Normally I protest because things seem to just grow legs and walk away at my house , but darry and soda wouldn't notice the difference between curley's clothes and mine so it would be worth the save. I ended up picking a rolling stone shirt, man they were tuff. 

Curly was sitting at his desk when i turned around "good luck getting this back from me " he leaned back in his chair to look at me though from his angle i knew i'd be upside down 

" awh see , you almost look as good as I do in it " 

" aint that impressive" I retorted back and he smiled at that before sitting upright and spinning outta the chair   
" well I don't know about you but im beat, and my brother said he would take care of the mess out there , so im hittin the hay" 

he jumped on his bed with an over dramatic crash that was obviously done on purpose. One of these days he was going to break his bed up and I just hope I'm here to see it. I hesitated , it would be easier than walking home , but I hadn't told ethire of my brother i'd be gone all night, before i could think more about it he interpreted my thoughts 

" you know goin home smellin like that would be a hellva lot harder than telling them you wanted to crash here , how many times have you stayed here anyways " that sounds right , even if it wasn't i'm too tired to think of anything else so I plopped down on the floor by the bed , I vaguely remember sending a text saying where i would be for the night before feeling a hand in my hair , it was slow and calming ,all I could do was lean my head back on the bed 

" go to sleep pon, tomorrow we'll be big shot adults" his voice was quiet and soft , through closed eyes I could tell he had relaxed as well , it's at night,just on the edge of sleep that he lets his guard down and he stops moving at a hundred miles an hour , it's a side i think only me and Tim have seen.he smiled down at me with a look I couldn't quite place. 

" I don't know who I feel worse for us or the rest of the world" he shifted his weight as I spoke and gently motioned for me to crawl into bed , normally I'd make a show of fighting him on it but I was way past caring tonight. He seemed to understand that pulling the blankets back for me. Times like these were rare and I wonder if this would be the last time we would be this close before I was shipped off. My chest was starting to ache and I tried to shake the thoughts out of my head, eventually my racing thoughts are what makes me fall asleep.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke up first, looking over with half open lids i realized it was because it was just barley six in the morning, curly wakes up around nine on a good day, he missed his first hour so much our junior year they changed it into a study hall just so he wouldn't fail any core class they might have put him in. thinking back on it was incredible he got away with that,if it were anyone else the school would have just let him fail, but curly had such a charisma that made just about anyone bend to his will, and the most dangerous part about that was that he knew about it,knew exactly how to work it to his advantage, every individual was like a puzzle he could put together in minutes, and because of that he saw everyone's bigger picture and as able to make it seem like helping him would benefit them in the end , help them get to where they wanted to be without ever realizing they were doing exactly what he wanted them to do. 

That's probably exactly what makes me follow everything he says , I would never admit it but I would do anything for him. That mindset I knew from experience was dangerous,but I couldn't get myself to care too much about it. I wonder if that's how Johnny felt when dally would pull him along for his ridiculous plans. 

Wrapped up in all his blankets ,eyes closed hiding the two lively light blue eyes he usually sported he didn't seem as deadly as he could be when awake. His black hair was almost shining out from the top of the covers and stuck to his head in an uneven pattern. I debated waking him up but quickly decided against it remembering how horrid his hangovers can get, that was something best left to Tim so as quietly as I could manage I unwrapped myself from the blankets and (not very gracefully) rolled off the bed, thank god for tims wild teen years making both him and curly light sleepers.

The whole house was trashed with not a sign of a clean up party, the only people still here were tim and the girl from last night sprawled out on the couch, man he's gonna hate that when he wakes up , just the mental image of it makes me laugh a little to myself

The air was a lot warmer than it was on the walk over last night so i didn't mind the walk as much ,my mind drifting off to wilder thoughts like how hard it would be to hide from the law just until the war "that wasn't an actual war" was over. Although I'm pretty sure if elvis couldn't get out of it im sure as hell stuck with it. But still it's nice to pretend i could avoid it like some five page paper i only half cared about. If i really think about it I'm not really sure i give two shits about the war , except for the fact that too many good people have already died in it. The thought of losing one of my brothers half way across the world was enough to make me sick. I know they'll have a hellva time believing it's for the best. 

A light "beep" brought me out of my daze. Looking around me I realized I was on my side of town so there shouldn't be anybody lurking for trouble. Except the person behind the wheel of the car tailing me was someone who caused nothing but trouble for me

" oi dumbass get in the damn car" Steve spit at me as he brought the car to a rolling stop , bastard probably wanted to run me over. Still I didn't have much of an attitude with the remaining members of our gang. 

His car smelled like cancer sticks and old leather and it was decently cleaned if not for a stray wrapper on the floor board. 

“What cha’ doin out this early Steve , i thought soda took morning shifts during the weekends” the glare he gave me told me he would also prefer to be in bed. At least we’re both unhappy then.

“ ya don't even get me started kid, i got called in last night, and if that wasn't bad enough soda decided before i picked him up i should swing by to make sure you weren't walking by your lonesome” he turned to me then eyes showing just how tired he was “and your damn lucky you were already heading this way because if i had to walk in that damn shepherd house after another one of his partys i woulda lost it” 

This wasn't the first time soda had sent him after me when they knew i was on this side of town.it use to piss me off thinking it was a lack of trust of my ability to protect myself but then curly pointed out it was more a lack of trust in him and his brother, which really irked me off more than helped my mood, curly just laughed it off and said he thought it was cute i cared so much. So that conversation just ended with me rolling my eyes and pushing him off the hood of his car,and we never brought it up again. I'm sure he thought i really didn't give it anymore thought but i slowly made a point of going over more and inviting him over less.   
While i did that for my own piece of mind it seemed to verify to him i wasn't going anywhere just because of his reputation, or Tim for that matter. 

Over the past year or so the gang has been on my case about it less so i don't push the matter, while steve was more reluctant to let it go as long as i didnt egg him on even he wouldn't start fights about it. So i choose a different part of the conversation to latch onto

“ old man get sick again?” he was back to looking at the road but i could tell something changed on his face 

“ actually his son died in the war, he got the news this morning” his voice was solemn and my breath got caught in my throat. 

People have been dying out there for almost a year,we all knew it, but it hadn't reached us yet. We were blissfully ignorant from the world outside of tulsa. 

"Shits Crazy" he laughed dryly 

"You gotta watch that mouth of your kids, graduate or not darry won't stand for you talking like a hoodrat" 

"Ya ya i know ,why don't you keep that over sized nose of yours outta my business" low blow but this same old complaint was always the same 

" You shit, keep running that damn mouth of yours and imma kick your scrawny little ass" now it was my turn to laugh. He was only half serious about it and we both knew it.partly because he's gotten tired of soda getting on his case but also because over the years we've developed a tolerance for each other, even if it was limited. 

" Oh I'm shakin in my boots' 'I leaned on the window and rested my head on my hands. nonchalance seemed to piss him off the fastest. 

"Tsk,smartass kid" he said underneath his breath, it's not that he didn't want me to hear it and more that he didn't care enough to join me in the conversation anymore.

The rest of the car ride was quiet,and Steve remained silent while slipping into the house. Soda of course wasn't ready to go,hell he wasn't even outta his room yet. Just great another thing to handle.

"Soda" swinging open the door a loud thud was followed by an even louder groan. He rather dramatically hit the floor with a poorly hidden smile. The right side of his face is already turning into a reddish tint. 

" oh don't even start,you know steve is gonna have your ass on a stick if you don't get ready soon" his lips turned upright into a full smile at that and shook his head 

" come on pone I'm injured here" he gestured towards his face in a way i just couldn't help but laugh at,he was truly hopeless sometimes. How someone with such a short temper like Steve was able to handle someone as wild as soda blows my mind. Looking him over i noted he had already changed into his work clothes which was at least a step. 

“you're gonna be if you don't get your ass movin” his face crinkled up as a reaction to my words. Out of everyone soda was most off put by my newish vocabulary and honestly if he were the one to ask me i would most likely stop, but he hadn't . He wanted me to be myself no matter what that looked like. He pushed off the floor and dusted himself.

" Your sounding more like Steve every day" he meant to be playful, he really did. But damn it if that didn't hit a nerve. I shot him the best glare i could manage before Pushing past him i went towards the bed, I fully intended to end the conversation. Soda however wasn't so content with it.

"Hey come on you know I'm only joking around" he turned towards me but didn't move closer to the bed. Instead he paused and looked at me with eyes that made me feel transparent. He tilted his head to the right after a second, thinking over something in his head. 

'Mm,i know soda" i sat on the bed with a soft thump and laid back.

"What's wrong" I had closed my eyes but I could hear the concern in his voice. I shrugged my shoulders as a response.   
" pone come on" 

" im tired soda" that was bull and we both knew it.

"You don't need to li-" 

"SODAPOP YOU GET YOUR LAZY ASS OUT TO THE CAR IN THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES OR SO HELP ME"

i opened one eye at that,not to worried about it as much as i was curious. Soda looked me over one more time before giving me a look that said we'll continue this later. I just gave him another shrug. I could hear him yell back steve ,followed by the door being shut behind him. I let out a sigh i didnt know i was holding in. Things would only get harder from here,so for now i would sleep the day away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this,if you have any suggestions please lmk! While i have the big picture in mind i am more than hapoy to hear ideas😊


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